THE SUGAR SORGHO. 287 
CHAPTER III. 
DISTILLATION. 
THE sweet juice or vesou being obtained, we propose now to give 
directions for transforming it into alcohol. Under the head of distil- 
lation, we will remark, at first, that this operation is divided into two 
separate ones, entirely characteristic the one from the other, although 
closely united, namely, fermentation and distillation. From habit, the 
first is commonly considered as a very secondary matter, as spontane~ 
ously rising without need of much care, whilst in reality it demands 
close attention, and it is only upon its being well conducted that the 
success and the profit of the whole speculation depends. We may be 
very certain that a bad process of fermentation will never give an ex- 
cellent result, however much may be the perfection of the apparatus 
made use of for the manufacture. In all matters, the end is commen- 
surate with its antecedents, and a fault is much more grave as it is 
committed nearer to the beginning of a process. 
Thus we have fermentation, having for its end the transformation 
into alcohol of the saccharine matter; the second distillation having 
for its end the extraction and concentration of the alcohol. A 
good fermentation demands as its first conditions: 1st. That it should 
be rapidly accomplished, providing that we avoid the ill effects of an 
injurious precipitancy. 2d. That it may be continued in such a way 
that the distillation can proceed with uniformity. 3d. That the juice 
shall not be too dense nor too watery. 4th. That the liquid possesses 
sufficient heat, but we must strictly guard against such conditions as 
will produce a too great elevation of temperature. We will remark 
here, that the danger of acetification of the juice increasing with the 
fermentation more rapid, we should in this case make use of quite shal- 
low vats, with a large surface, with which a minimum of heat is neces- 
sary to Jeactstah the conversion of the sugar into alcohol. As to 
what concerns the particular dispositions for the process of the opera- 
tion, they should be necessarily subordinate to the fundamental rules 
